A microfiche appendix consisting of 20 microfiche and of 1,937 frames is included as part of the specification.
The background of the invention is set forth in two parts: the field of the invention and the description of related art.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer-implemented expert support system for authoring invention disclosures.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior-art, knowledge-based software systems serve a variety of purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,829 discloses a method and apparatus for performing inheritance in knowledge-based systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,822 discloses an expert system which provides one or more suggested treatments for a patient with physical trauma. U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,933 discloses a method and apparatus for handling definitions of relationships between knowledge and data in a database used as the knowledge of an expert system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,476 discloses a knowledgebase having particular utility as a medical/pathology knowledgebase containing textual and pictorial information on various diseases. U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,392 discloses an apparatus and method for providing a microcomputer-based expert system having a knowledgebase of failure analysis of metals. U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,915 discloses an inference system provided with a first knowledgebase for storing general knowledge which is a theorem, and a second knowledgebase for storing associative knowledge which is different in knowledge structure from the general knowledge. U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,932 discloses a system for controlling a process exhibiting both linear and non-linear behavior. U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,148 discloses an expert system for planning telephone facilities networks. The disclosures of the above patents are incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth.
A variety of publications and software programs are used by inventors in authoring invention disclosures. Some inventors use forms provided by their technology managers, supplemented by library research findings as guidance during preparation of invention disclosures. Practitioners of rDNA technology use the DOS version of AuthorIn sequence input software or PatentIn sequence-input software.
A number of books and two software products are available to assist novice inventors in preparing U.S. patent applications. The book Patent It Yourself by Robert Pressman (Pressman, R. Patent It Yourself. Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo Press, 1995) is highly regarded by many. "Patent Writer" software is available as DOS shareware from World Permission Software (Patent Writer. User's Manual V. 2.00. Long Beach, Calif.: World Permission Software, 1992).
A Windows software product for authoring of U.S. patent applications called "Patent It Yourself" is published by Nolo Press (Patent It Yourself, Version 1.0. Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo Press, 1994). The software contains an on-line version of Robert Pressman's book and "the forms and instructions needed to patent a product in the United States." This product is of high quality, having been developed by the Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS). The limitations of this software are as follows: (1) It is appropriate for preparation of only U.S. patent applications in fairly "low-tech" fields; (2) It provides only basic legal guidance; (3) Users must learn to use a proprietary word processor with limited features, and text prepared with other word processors must be imported into the proprietary word processor as RTF or ASCII text files; (4) The "built-in" patent application headings are not the headings recommended by the PTO. One inventor known to the applicants was required by a PTO Examiner to amend his specification to use the "correct headings."
Many inventors have been the recipients of documents generated by a Windows software tool available to PTO Examiners called "Action Writer." This software is a WordPerfect-for-Windows macro program that provides "canned" text for use in office actions. The focus of the program is on providing the rationale for rejecting patent claims and for responding to the patentability arguments of applicants.
Other information on the background of the invention is disclosed in a report entitled "Expert System for Recombinant DNA Invention Disclosure, Phase I Progress Report Volumes I and II," October, 1994, published by Yellowstone Environmental Science, Inc., 920 Technology Boulevard, Bozeman, Montana 59715. That disclosure is incorporated herein as if fully set forth.